Little thoughts and big ideas

[Mr E]

I'm just going to share some of Tony's little stories, that often have a big impact on me.

Sometimes like a pie in the face... but always truth, in story form.


The Master gave his teaching in parables and stories which his disciples listened to with pleasure — and occasional frustration, for they longed for something deeper.

The Master was unmoved. To all their objections he would say, “You have yet to understand, my dears, that the shortest distance between a human being and Truth is a story.”

Another time he said. “Do not despise the story. A lost gold coin is found by means of a penny candle; the deepest truth is found by means of a simple story.”

 

[Mr E]

To a visitor who described himself as a seeker after Truth the Master said. “If what you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else.”

“I know. An overwhelming passion for it.”

“No. An unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.”

 

[Wrangler]

Brevity is the soul of wit - and memorable persuasion.

I pride myself in being succinct. This is why I tend to have a high post count.

Jesus is not known for long speeches with many references. Pithy and insightful.

The philosopher Ayn Rand was preparing a speech for a conference. The bell boy famously challenged her to summarize her entire philosophy, of which she wrote books, while standing on one leg.

 

[Mr E]

Brevity is the soul of wit - and memorable persuasion.

I pride myself in being succinct. This is why I tend to have a high post count.

Jesus is not known for long speeches with many references. Pithy and insightful.

The philosopher Ayn Rand was preparing a speech for a conference. The bell boy famously challenged her to summarize her entire philosophy, of which she wrote books, while standing on one leg.

I really enjoy this Anthony DeMello guy.... He was a Jesuit (Catholic) Priest, but as one from India he had such a unique perspective. He was in essence a bit of an unconventional theological rabble-rouser.... that might be why I liked him.

He died too soon-- some (including his brother) say that he was 'unalived' by the Church itself.

 

[Wrangler]

I really enjoy this Anthony DeMello guy.... He was a Jesuit (Catholic) Priest, but as one from India he had such a unique perspective. He was in essence a bit of an unconventional theological rabble-rouser.... that might be why I liked him.

He died too soon-- some (including his brother) say that he was 'unalived' by the Church itself.

I'll have to look into him.

 

[Wrangler]

My high school quote: The race belongs not to the swift but to those who have the courage to keep on running.

 

[Mr E]

The Master seemed quite impervious to what people thought of him. When the disciples asked how he had attained this stage of inner freedom, he laughed aloud and said. “Till I was twenty I did not care what people thought of me. After twenty I worried endlessly about what my neighbors thought. Then one day after fifty I suddenly saw that they hardly ever thought of me at all!”

That's awareness!

 

[Mr E]

I love this>>>

Reminds me so much of my upbringing....


To everyone’s surprise the Master seemed unenthusiastic about religious education for the young.

When asked why he said, “Inoculate them when they are young and you prevent them from catching the real thing when they grow up.”

 

[Mr E]

The Master ordinarily dissuaded people from living in a monastery.

“To profit from books you don‘t have to live in a library,” he would say.

Or, even more forcefully. “You can read books without ever stepping into a library; and practise spirituality without ever going to a temple.”

 

[Mr E]

@Wrangler-- your comment about willingness to be persuaded made me think of this>>>

It always pleased the Master to hear people recognize their ignorance.

“Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance,” he claimed.

When asked for an explanation, he said, “When you come to see you are not as wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you are wiser today.”

 

[Mr E]

The Master had no use at all for scholarly discourses. He called them “pearls of wisdom.”

“But if they are pearls why do you scorn them?” said the disciples.

“Have you ever known pearls to grow when planted in a field?” was the reply.

 

[Mr E]

According to legend God sent an Angel to the Master with this message, “Ask for a million years of life and they will be given you. Or a million-million. How long do you wish to live?”

“Eighty years,” said the Master without the slightest hesitation.

The disciples were dismayed. “But, Master, if you lived for a million years, think how many generations would profit by your wisdom.”

“If I lived for a million years, people would be more intent on lengthening their lives than on cultivating wisdom.”